Thursday, September 8, 2011

The first AMD E-450 laptop to hit Philippine shores - Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A

The Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A, a 11.6-inch ultra-portable weighing in at an amazingly light 2.71 pounds is now available at Asianic.

 
Weight. The 2.71 pound weight makes it much lighter than its main competitors, the 3.5 pound HP DM1z and the 3.2 pound Sony Vaio YB. Part of the weight reduction is the smaller capacity 4-cell battery, while the heavier HP DM1z has a 6-cell battery. But the weight reduction is not due to the battery alone, after all the heavier Sony Vaio YB also has a four cell battery. 

Smaller package. While the Samsung NP305U1A is just a bit thinner than the HP DM1z and Sony Vaio YB, but it is much smaller overall. The Samsung NP305U1A is 10.9-inches wide and 7.7-inches deep. The HP is a bigger 11.4 x 8.4-inches which is similar to the size of the Sony Vaio YB at 11.4 x 8 inches. The smaller size accounts for the rest of the weight reduction, but you also have to contend with a more cramped keyboard than the one on the HP DM1z.

Power. What the Samsung NP305U1A also has going for it against 3.5 pound HP DM1z and the 3.2 pound Sony Vaio YB is that while the HP and Sony units have an AMD E-350 inside, the Samsung sports the newer and faster  E-450. 

The AMD E-450 with a dual core 1.65GHz processor is only marginally faster than the AMD E-450 at 1.60GHz. But the faster processor speed is not the reason to get excited about the AMD E-450. With the E-450 you get the faster HD6320 graphics and support for DDR3 1333Mhz memory too. 

Colorful. The Sony Vaio YB came out in three colors. Color options seem to be mandatory these days for consumer laptops. The Samsung NP305U1A has five color options (Grey/Black, Silver, Blue, Purple and Pink).

Price. Priced at Php23,900 it is priced a bit higher than the HP DM1 by 1-2K depending on where you buy it. But Samsung did not scrimp on the rest of the kit. You get the Samsung NP305U1A with Windows Home 7 Premium Basic, 2GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, HDMI out and the other typical laptop connectivity options. I am a bit disappointed about the absence of a USB 3.0 port, that kind of this should be standard these days. A 6-cell battery would have been nice to have too. With the 4-cell battery, you can expect about 3 hours of use.]

Clearly, it is a better choice than the more expensive (Php26,990) Sony Vaio YB. The longer battery life makes the HP DM1, still a viable choice. Buyers simple have to decide whether to prioritize light weight and a bit more power versus endurance and a larger keyboard.     

10 comments:

  1. Hello good sir! You said that the Samsung NP305U1A comes with Windows Home 7 Premium and should sell at around Php23,900. Which store sells this with that price?

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  2. You can find it in Asianic outlets and PCHub in Gilmore. Unfortunately, the info on the version of Windows installed was erroneous. It has home basic installed instead. If you get it at PCHub, the cash price is also lower than I indicated. They are offering it at Php20,990 cash.

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  3. Hello po!

    I've been scanning netbook reviews and I've got my choices down to this and the Acer Aspire One AO722-C60.

    I would like to be clarified if the AMD E-450 (Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A) APU is faster than the C60 (Acer Aspire One AO722-C60). Also, which among the two netbooks have a longer battery life? Lastly, I'm wondering how many DDR3 slots are available in each netbook?

    Hope you could also advise as to which among the two give a better deal--it would seem that both are tied for me.

    Hoping for your response and helpful opinions. Thanks very much! Cheers!

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  4. Speed. The C-60 should be have about 80% of the power of the E-350. The E-450 is substantially faster than the E-350

    Battery life. The C-60 is only marginally more efficient than the E-450, so you can expect a very small battery life advantage per se. But the Acer has a 4400mAh battery while the Samsung has smaller 4000mAh battery, so it would be safe to say that the Acer should give you 15% long battery life.

    Try the Samsungs keyboard. It is a very small 11.6-inch laptop. See if the keyboard is comfortable to you. The Acer has nice big keys, but it does have some keyboard flex.

    Cannot confirm for sure on the DDR slots.

    If I was to advices which one it depends. If you watch plenty of HD video and plan to do some light gaming, I would get the Samsung. The E-450 APU is really much faster than the C-60. If not, both are fast enough and I would pick based on which keyboard was more comfortable to me.

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  5. Thanks very much sir! You've been very helpful!

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  6. hi Sir!
    I would like to go with you on this Samsung, but the battery life is such a downer. Do you have any idea on when Samsung goin to release a version with longer battery life? Thanks a lot.

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  7. No idea, and even if they do, I doubt it will be available locally. You may want to take a look at the E-450 Asus 1215B. It has a 5200 mAh battery or the the Dell, which has a 5000 mAh battery.

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  8. Hello po!

    I just got a new computer, unfortunately, not this one. I was good to go with this model, however, the computer salesman told me that this model has ONLY ONE DDR3 SLOT. Definitely not enough for me.

    Anyway, just some info I wanted to share with you and your readers.

    Cheers!

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  9. Thanks. That is very useful information.

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  10. KURWY ZA ILE KUPICIE LAPTOP

    ReplyDelete

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